Incoming New York Times CEO comes under a black cloud

Mark Thompson is slated to start next month as the new president and CEO of the New York Times Company. He comes in under a cloud of suspicion. Almost a year ago, a decision was made at the BBC to kill a “Newsnight” investigation into what is now becoming the most astonishing sexual abuse scandal in the history of the United Kingdom:

Thompson was the director general at the BBC from 2004 to 2012, and serious questions have been raised about his role in squashing the investigation. He denies wrongdoing. The person of interest is suspected child rapist and serial predator Jimmy Savile, a celebrity icon who worked at the BBC for more than 25 years. His predatory behavior extends back six decades, and some of his sexual abuse took place on the premises of the BBC.

I have personally collected a great deal of information on this subject and will have much more to say about my findings. My interest is twofold: both the BBC and the New York Times have been among the harshest critics of the homosexual scandal that took place more than a quarter century ago in the Catholic Church. Let’s see how they react to a little “sunshine,” as they like to call it. I’m just beaming.

We know the BBC is already in deep trouble over this issue—two internal investigations are under way—but it cannot be trusted to report on itself. Indeed, contradictory accounts have already been offered, involving what Thompson knew and when he knew it. British Culture Secretary Maria Miller has called off an independent inquiry, but she may not have the last word. We support British Labor chief Ed Miliband’s call for a probe.

Bill Keller got out in front of this issue by writing a piece for the New York Times on its website; it appeared over the weekend, and it is reprinted today in the Times-owned International Herald Tribune. But why hasn’t his article been printed in the op-ed page of the Times?